VI.
My father said nothing after I told him that I needed to see Lord Ryan. He just sighed and picked up his hoe. I knew it would be hard on him, but then again, it was always hard on him. The other villagers resented him for not marrying again, so they let him do his work in silence...alone. Sometimes I tried to help him, but I had to take over my mother�s old tasks, so there wasn�t much time left in the day.Bobby met me on the road. Last night he had told me that it was far more likely that I�d get in if he was along, since his mother held some influence with Lord Ryan. I agreed without much comment. Bobby was a necessary nuisance, and he was really my only friend. He wisely remained silent.
A servant was busy emptying chamber-pots outside the manor doors when we walked up. He stared dumbly at us, as if wondering why two shoddily dressed peasants would even think that they could enter the presence of the magnificent Lord Ryan.�Is Lord Ryan available?� Bobby asked.
The servant leaned on the door-jamb and examined the interiors of the chamber pots. �That depends. Who�s calling?�
�The son of Hewitt and the son of Haley.� The servant nodded and beckoned us to come inside. Entered the cold interior of the manor house. No fires had been stoked lately so it was even colder than normal, the drafts hissed through all of the cracks in the stones. But what was worse was the noises we heard... Since there was really no barricade to block out sound, Amir and Ryan�s escapades came through loud and clear. And they weren�t being quiet about it either, so it echoed until it was about ten times louder than it should have ideally been.
�GOD! Keep on doing that!� Ryan screamed in between bouts of heavy panting and bed-thumping action. I exchanged a glance with Bobby. Surely that couldn�t be the same Amir that was a creature of stone most of the time...could it? I supposed that even people from the Orient, like Amir could have desires and passions beyond what was expected of them.
Bobby�s cheeks flushed with color, and the blush spread slowly all over his face as the noise went on and on and on...I covered my face with my hand and shook my head. I doubted that we would see them at all at this rate. Who knew that they could last this long? And, more importantly, who wanted to know? Then a long drawn out scream, two voices joined as one. The servant was watching us with a smug look on his face.
�I�ll go and ask if Lord Ryan is available to see you now.� he bowed and walked out of the room. Bobby moved closer to me.
�W...we�re not going to have to...� he trailed off as the servant reappeared.
�Lord Ryan will see you now.�
Deep red fabric covered the four poster bed, obscuring its occupants from view. Bobby and I fell to our knees and averted our eyes. The curtain shifted and Ryan poked his head out. Seeing who was there, he promptly closed it. �Amir, will you deal with them?� he asked, and I heard the sound of frantic licking. When the curtain parted next, Amir�s head thrust out at us.�Why do you require Lord..� he closed his eyes and glared back at Ryan. I kept my eyes on the floor. Bobby was slack-jawed. �...Ryan�s assistance? We are very busy at the moment.� he said, his stern face cracking as Ryan did something behind him.
�I merely came here, m�lord, because of the inquisitor..� I began.
He laughed. �You�ll be able to see the slut burn in three days. Now go!� he said, waving us off.
�No, that�s not what I came here for! I want to know how I can help Jay.� I protested. Ryan�s face joined Amir�s in the opening of the curtains. Amir shrugged and resumed his former position somewhere behind Ryan.
�Jay? You...ah! Amir...� he gasped, his eyes sliding closed, �You�re not allowed to see Jay until the inquisitor is done.� He fell prostrate on the bed and started moaning in earnest.
�Amir, you helped me out once before, could you please help me again? I�ll do whatever you want!� I cried. Amir licked a path up to the curtain and then smiled out.
�You still owe me from the first time I helped you. But if you want, you can join in here.� he winked as Ryan gurgled his bliss.
�Come on Paige, I don�t think he�s going to help us.� Bobby whispered, pulling on my sleeve. I nodded grimly. We left the room quietly, as the bed started pounding again and the moaning got louder.
�What the hell can I do?!� I hissed.�Maybe if you had slept with them...� Bobby said. I smacked him.
�Then they would have gotten a free lay, because I�m sure they wouldn�t have let me see him!� Stopped screaming as I realized how quiet it was. Blushed and walked back home.
I had tried everything, spying on Lord Ryan�s manor to see when he was gone, trying to bribe Father Jonathan, pleading with Amir again (he only smiled and rode on), and before I knew it three days had gone by and there was nothing else to do. My father had noticed that something was up, but he assumed that I was excited about the burning.Bobby�s mother had supervised the cutting of the wood for the bonfire, and it stood in a great pile of imminent pyromania in front of the well. Even though Amir had assured me that only Jay�s mother was going to be burned at the stake, tales from London hadn�t quite assured me that being held by an inquisitor was going to be any better.
Father Jonathan led Jay�s mother out from the manor house and shoved her to the stake. �Get up there, whore!� he screamed. She said nothing. Her head had been shaved unevenly, huge patches of hair trailed down from her scalp. As he kicked her again, I saw why she wasn�t saying anything. Her tongue was gone.
While Father Jonathan tied her to the stake, she kept on staring at me, her eyes just about the same color as Jay�s. Her lips moved and she seemed to be trying to say something to me. Bobby nudged me. �Now�s our chance to go and find Jay. They�re all going to be distracted by this.� he whispered. But I couldn�t just break eye contact with her. Eyes bored down into my heart, accusing me of betrayals most foul. I closed my eyes and followed Bobby.
�Where do you think they�d keep him?� I asked. Bobby sighed and pointed to the root cellar. The huge oak doors looked practically immobile under their lock.�My mother�s been here just about every day to see that it�s going well.�
�How are we going to get in? It�s locked!�
He smiled and took out his mother�s house keys. �She gave them to me for safe-keeping, since she�s going to be milling in with all of the rabble today. Never mind that we�re part of that rabble..� I grabbed the key and thrust it in the lock, almost breaking it in my haze of worry.
Light pierced the dark depths and dribbled onto instruments of torture, a whip, two whips, a whip with five or six tails, thumbscrews, and others that I couldn�t recognize by sight. Walked down the steps slowly, hoping that I wouldn�t see Jay torn to pieces on the floor, or his mother�s tongue. All I saw were empty chains, the dirt was clotted with blood, but... There was a certain smell, one that lingered over the stench of the blood. Seared flesh. That was when I noticed the brand lying on the anvil and the recently put out fire...
�Jay?� I whispered, �Are you here?� Bobby crept up behind me and touched my shoulder gently.
�I found him.� he whispered. As he led me to Jay, the smell of burned flesh grew more pungent. Then I saw him.
�Jay!� I screamed, sinking to my knees. His eyes were closed and he was slumped on the ground. Father Jonathan had seen no need to chain him to anything. Bruises and open wounds made a grisly pattern on his flesh, that wasn�t the worst part. That dubious honor went to his neck. The raw skin boiled and festered, a blistering design that almost covered his pulse. A pitch-fork.